''Nana'' is a 1926 French silent

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

directed by

Jean Renoir Jean Renoir (; 15 September 1894 – 12 February 1979) was a French film director, screenwriter, actor, producer and author. As a film director and actor, he made more than forty films from the silent film, silent era to the end of the 1960s. ...

and starring

Catherine Hessling Catherine Hessling (born Andrée Madeleine Heuschling; 22 June 1900 – 28 September 1979) was a French actress and the first wife of film director Jean Renoir. Hessling appeared in 15, mostly silent, films before retiring from the acting prof ...

Werner Krauss Werner Johannes Krauss (''Krauß'' in German; 23 June 1884 – 20 October 1959) was a German stage and film actor. Krauss dominated the German stage of the early 20th century. However, his participation in the antisemitic propaganda film ''Jud S ...

and

Jean Angelo Jean Angelo (born Jean-Jacques Barthélémy, 17 May 1888 - 26 November 1933) was a French film actor of silent movies and early talkies. He was often a leading man playing romantic or athletic roles. Angelo was born and died in Paris. Filmogra ...

. It was Renoir's second full-length film and is based on the 1880 novel by

Émile Zola Émile Édouard Charles Antoine Zola (, also , ; 2 April 184029 September 1902) was a French novelist, journalist, playwright, the best-known practitioner of the literary school of naturalism, and an important contributor to the development of ...

. It was shot at the

Bavaria Studios Bavaria Studios are film production studios located in Munich, the capital of the region of Bavaria in Germany, and a subsidiary of Bavaria Film. History The studios were constructed in the suburb of Geiselgasteig in 1919 shortly after the Firs ...

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

and the Neuilly Studios in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

. The film's sets were designed by the

art director Art director is the title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, film industry, film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supervise and ...

Claude Autant-Lara Claude Autant-Lara (; 5 August 1901 – 5 February 2000) was a French film director and later Member of the European Parliament (MEP). Biography Born at Luzarches in Val-d'Oise, Autant-Lara was educated in France and at London's Mill Hill Sc ...

Plot

A government official, Count Muffat, falls under the spell of Nana, a young actress. She becomes his mistress, living in the sumptuous apartment which he provides for her. Instead of elevating herself to Muffat's level, however, Nana drags the poor man down to hers - in the end, both lives have been utterly destroyed.

Production

The film stars Renoir's wife,

, in an eccentric performance as the flawed heroine Nana. Jean Renoir's film is a fairly faithful adaptation of Émile Zola's classic novel. The film's extravagances include two magnificent set pieces – a horse race and an open air ball. The film never made a profit, and the commercial failure of the film robbed Renoir of the opportunity to make such an ambitious film again for several years.

Cast

as Nana *

as Count Muffat *

as Count de Vandeuvres * Raymond Guérin-Catelain as Georges Hugon * Pierre Lestringuez as Bordenave *

Jacqueline Forzane Jacqueline may refer to: People * Jacqueline (given name), including a list of people with the name * Jacqueline Moore (born 1964), ring name "Jacqueline", American professional wrestler Arts and entertainment * ''Jacqueline'' (1923 film), ...

as La Comtesse Sabine Muffat *

as Fauchery * Pierre Champagne as Hector de la Faloise *

Karl Harbacher Karl Harbacher (1879–1943) was an Austrian actor. Selected filmography * '' Miss Piccolo'' (1914) * '' No Sin on the Alpine Pastures'' (1915) * ''Fanny Elssler'' (1920) * '' Das blaue Duell'' (1920) * ''The Adventuress of Monte Carlo'' (1921) * ...

as Francis - le coiffeur *

Valeska Gert Valeska or Valeška may refer to the following people: Given name * Valeska von Gallwitz (1833–1888), German writer *Valeska Gert (1892–c. 1978), German dancer and cabaret artist *Valeska Menezes (born 1976), Brazilian volleyball player * Val ...

as Zoe - la femme de chambre * Jacqueline Ford as Rose Mignon * Dennis Price as Le jockey de 'Nana' * Gresham as Le jockey de 'Lusignan' * Luc Dartagnan as Maréchal - le bookmaker *

Nita Romani NITA may refer to: Places *Nita District, Shimane, Japan **Nita, Shimane, a former town merged with Yokota in 2005 to form Okuizumo People *Nita (given name) *Niță, a Romanian surname NITA *National Information Technology Agency, a pub ...

as Satin * Roberto Pla as Bosc * Gorieux as Le médecin

References

Nana at ''filmsdefrance''

External links

*
''Nana'' at Internet Archive

Entry at Allmovie
1926 films 1920s French-language films Films directed by Jean Renoir French black-and-white films French silent feature films Films based on works by Émile Zola French historical drama films 1920s historical drama films Films set in the 19th century Films shot at Bavaria Studios 1926 drama films Silent drama films 1920s French films {{1920s-France-film-stub